SAN ANTONIO – Shaking up the lineup sparked the St. Mary's Volleyball team, but they couldn't quite get over the hump on Senior Night, falling in devastating five-set fashion to St. Edward's 25-27, 25-16, 13-25, 30-28, 14-16.
Prior to the match, the seven seniors on the two teams were honored for their play. St. Edward's (4-5, 4-5 Lone Star Conference) has five seniors, while the Rattlers (2-7, 2-7 Lone Star) honored both
Catherine Cruz (San Antonio) and
Lindsey Kaufman (Coral Springs, Fla.).
Cruz responded with a match-high tying 25 digs, while Kaufman recorded her third double-double of the year with 27 assists and a season-high 13 digs.
Freshman
Hailey Harmon (San Antonio) moved into the starting rotation on the left side and recorded a career-high 13 kills. Fellow freshman
Julia Aleman (San Antonio) flipped to the right side, where she hit .400 (9-1-20) and junior
Rachel McDonald (Indianapolis, Ind.) moved to the middle, where she recorded a season-high nine kills.
Junior
Julia Deais (San Antonio) led the team with 16 kills and hit .406 (16-3-32) and she led the team with six blocks. Junior
Alissa Tolbert (San Antonio) was right behind Deais with 15 kills and she also collected 13 digs for her seventh double-double of the year. Freshman setter
Aislan Lennon (Houston) also tallied her seventh double-double of the year with 30 assists and a career-high 21 digs.
The teams fought hard all night as there were 47 tie scores and 24 lead changes throughout the five sets, including 23 ties in the 30-28 fourth set.
After playing three straight matches at home, the Rattlers head back to the road for a pair of matches at Texas A&M-Kingsville on March 9 and 10 before concluding the regular season with the Javelinas on March 13 at Bill Greehey Arena.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER & TEAM NOTES
- For the third time this season, the Rattlers had five different players record double figures in digs.
- Hailey Harmon recorded a career-high 13 kills. She entered the night with three kills on the season and played in only her fourth match.
- Both Alissa Tolbert and Aislan Lennon recorded their seventh double-doubles of the season. Tolbert totaled 15 kills and 13 digs, while Lennon had 30 assists and a career-high 21 digs.
- St. Mary's hit over .200 for just the third time this season, hitting .245 (71-23-196) for the match.
- For the second-straight night, freshman Nadia Manitzas (San Antonio) led the team with two service aces.
